It was in the early hours of the morning when everyone had assembled upon Bo's houseboat. The guests had been dispatched to their various homes, the little floating house had been cleaned up, and a few people had even managed to indulge in some catnaps along the way. Rory had been awoken from a sound sleep and dragged over -- this was going to be a situation that would benefit from having extra fur and fang.

"So. Let me get this straight. Mike has an Anshega girlfriend who's on the run from her pack, and we're following her to find her...?" Rory said, sprawling across the couch and looking at Michael and Avery. "Who is this girl? Is she, like, pretty?"

In truth, that was the question. But Maddy had called Michael, and not her alpha. Even if Lucas had her best interests at heart, Maddy hadn't wanted his help. More than that, whatever was going on, someone had attacked the Fire-Touched woman, which meant something strange was going on...

Before the explanation could progress very much, there was a sharp knock on the door -- this despite it being about three in the morning. Bo opened the door, and there in the threshold stood a young woman of about average height. She was pale, with a few tattoos visible, most notably a black cat with an arched back across her forearm. Her hair was an unruly mop of carrot-orange, and the dark brown eyes half-hidden beneath her bangs had a lively spark in them. She was dressed in jeans and a rose-colored tanktop with an elaborate, dark-red flower emblazoned above her breasts, a drab-green army jacket thrown over her shoulder. She held upright a lime-green bicycle, and there was a messenger bag slung over one shoulder.

"Morning Citizen. Where can I leave this?" She greeted Bo, then leaned in and waved at Michael before turning her vivid eyes towards Avery and Rory. "Name's Allie Newton. Mike, this had better be important, I'm skipping meals here because of you."

"Very pretty," Michael confirmed, "and so very not my girlfriend." It was weird enough to have someone he knew look at a Pure that way. To imagine himself doing it? It gave him the creeps.

Thankfully, Allie's entrance spared him from thinking about it too deeply. He grinned widely and stood to welcome her. "Oh, its important, don't worry about that," he answered. "As for meals, you're in a room full of walking blood banks. I'm always happy to provide, or I'm sure Avery or Rory would show their gentlemanly sides and offer," he added, indicating who was who. "Guys, this is Allie - an old friend of mine. Very old," he teased, flashing her a grin.

Bo sighed. One day, he figured he'd wean Michael off of his willingness to stick his neck out for any hungry vampire that came by. That day was not today.

"Very old?" he asked, nonplussed. "What does that make me? You can leave your bag anywhere, Allie. Spike or Light will make sure it's kept safe. Michael, be a gentleman and tell Allie why you called her in."

"There's a missing wolf. She contacted Michael, we decided to play good Samaritans and check on her." Avery said, apparently in the mood to talk out of turn. "What we found was a significant quality of blood, and her cellphone. Last calls were a call to her mother, and several from the Alpha of her pack. She hadn't been taking his calls."

Avery stretched, looking the newcomer vampire over. Old was good, but old could also mean difficult, but then again after his interactions with Mary, he was more inclined to give vampires a fair shake. As long as things didn't go all Abbott and Costello.

"Now, I can track her pretty damn well right now after getting a taste of her blood, assuming it is hers, but considering the state of her cellphone unless she tossed it intentionally, we're pretty certain it's hers. Her alpha is looking for her with his pack, the complication being they're Pure. It's a werewolf tribal distinction. They take a harder animist line, taking a line of supplication of stronger spirits with a distinctly anti humanity bent. Not quite kill 'em all and let the spirits sort it out, more put humanity back on the absolute bottom of the totem pole beneath Werewolves, and spirit overlords."

There was a moment that Avery allowed to let this sink in, before he continued. "Now, it's entirely possible that it was her alpha who was responsible. But at the same time, he seemed just as concerned as anyone else. It's possible he's just looking for her to assuage his ego, and we've got two negatives converging. Plus his politics put him distinctly at odds with Michael and I...usually." It sounded however, like this was a distinctly unusual situation. "However, in this case, He apparently sort of fancies me."

Avery grinned. "What can I say, despite his politics he apparently has good taste. And it indicates he's not a hardliner. We gave him the phone to avoid a conflict we quite possibly could not win, and let him go his merry way with a warning about moving into spider territory. He's out in force with his pack. He wants to handle things in house, but quite frankly? Parallel investigation is a good idea right now."

Avery actually started to pace now. "Even a fresh werewolf is pretty damn good at ****ing folks up. She called Michael saying she needed help, and then...nada. If something got her that isn't within the pack she belongs to? We've got several options here." He held up a finger "One, it's a forsaken pack taking the chance to ambush a lone pure. Politically, this will suck, because I can't 100% blame them, but with her being Mike's friend...well, it's pretty scummy. In that case, our main focus is going to be social censure and pressure. And if this turns into a fight, it's going to be messy, mostly on me and Michael and we might be getting allies in weird places. OR making everyone hate us."

He then held up the second finger. "Two, we've got something else. And that's the problem. It could be anything. Vampire, Magus, Dugathim, Shartha...lots of options, without any real way to tell what we're facing other than to hit pavement and search. I've still got the trail till at LEAST morning, so the faster we're out there, the better. I got a taste of blood, so...bloodhound on the trail. Sadly, with the rain, didn't get another sample, and didn't think to."

He looked at Bo "Sorry about that". He then looked at Allie and grinned. "And by the by, I'm Avery, alpha of the Crimson Storm, and this " He gestured to Rory "Is Rory. Sometimes, I talk out of turn. Rory knows occult weird shit and maaybe what the royals were doing with moonchild. "

"As for meals, you're in a room full of walking blood banks. I'm always happy to provide, or I'm sure Avery or Rory would show their gentlemanly sides and offer," he added, indicating who was who. "Guys, this is Allie - an old friend of mine. Very old," he teased, flashing her a grin.

Allie sighed, and clipped Michael on the back of the head with an open palm. "I'm twenty-eight, and I am staying twenty-eight, so **** you, Mike. Also, I'm so taking you up on the hot meals later."

"So... when were you Embraced?" Rory asked, looking over their newcomer. He glanced at Michael. So this is your girlfriend?

"When the Beatles broke up." Allie retorted. She smirked at the werewolf. "You do the math."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo

You can leave your bag anywhere, Allie. Spike or Light will make sure it's kept safe.

"Thanks. Will I need my bike or should I stash it here too?" Allie asked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avery

"Last calls were a call to her mother, and several from the Alpha of her pack. She hadn't been taking his calls."

"Don't suppose anyone jotted down the number of her mother?" Rory asked, paying more attention now that matters were moving towards concrete things. "She might know something if this werewolf said something... uh, does she have a name, this Anshega damsel in distress?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avery

"One, it's a forsaken pack taking the chance to ambush a lone pure... Two, we've got something else. And that's the problem. It could be anything. Vampire, Magus, Dugathim, Shartha...lots of options, without any real way to tell what we're facing other than to hit pavement and search."

"If you guys show me where it happened, I can run some psychometry on the pavement, try and get some flashbacks." Allie said. Rory was staring at her, so she grinned back. "Hey, I'm a grade-A occultist, I'm qualified to do exorcisms, I can do ritual magic, memory-editing... if you still had the cellphone I could plot the missing werewolf's location on a sorcerous map, but no dice, I take it."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avery

"Sadly, with the rain, didn't get another sample, and didn't think to."

"What rain?" Allie said, looking at Avery suddenly. "It's been dry as a bone all night."

"We need to go. Now." Avery said, looking between Rory and Allie. "Allie, I'm going to need you to get a read of the spot where it happened. There was a localized downpour. That happens where the Cold River goes. It may have been Lucas trying to be all spooky and shit, or it could be covering his tracks. Or it could have been Maddie, and she's trying to disappear herself. Or it could have been any number of things. I just want a rule out. And fast. "

Avery scowled. "I swear, if it's Lucas, I'm going to beat the high holy hell out of him, attractive or no. Don't like getting played."

"Ancient," Michael answered, grinning. Winding Bo up about his age never got old, ironically enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allie

Allie sighed, and clipped Michael on the back of the head with an open palm. "I'm twenty-eight, and I am staying twenty-eight, so **** you, Mike. Also, I'm so taking you up on the hot meals later."

He chuckled and nodded. He was used to being fed from by now. Five different vampires had all had a taste. All female, funnily enough, but then he knew so few male vampires. Michael wondered if there was a difference in the Kiss between male and female vampires. Perhaps one day he'd find out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rory

"So... when were you Embraced?" Rory asked, looking over their newcomer. He glanced at Michael. So this is your girlfriend?

Michael smiled at the younger man and shook his head, then placed a small kiss on Bo's cheek as if to say this is my girlfriend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allie

"If you guys show me where it happened, I can run some psychometry on the pavement, try and get some flashbacks." Allie said. Rory was staring at her, so she grinned back. "Hey, I'm a grade-A occultist, I'm qualified to do exorcisms, I can do ritual magic, memory-editing... if you still had the cellphone I could plot the missing werewolf's location on a sorcerous map, but no dice, I take it."

"Thats why I gave you a call," he said. "You are handier than a Swiss army knife." Not to mention that, judging from her model, she seemed to know London better than anyone.

"This place looks totally shady." Rory proclaimed, once they were back in the alleyway where Avery and Michael had met the Cold River Hunters. There was not a single trace of what had happened earlier, the rain having washed everything away. There was no blood, the cellphone was gone, Lucas King and his pack had left.

Allie ignored him and knelt down by the storm-drain. She put a single, pale hand against the concrete and concentrated, closing her dark eyes. For a moment, everyone was silent, watching and waiting to see what she would come up with.

"I'm seeing a woman... uh, late twenties, figure, sort of thin, oval-face, long hair... she's wearing a long skirt, a sweater, and she's got glasses... talking on a cellphone... she seems nervous... no, make that terrified... girl is scared." Allie muttered, opening her eyes now. "And I'm seeing a fight... it starts raining, and there's a fog... comes up fast, girl notices it.... then they come out of the fog... I think they materialized or stepped through from some other world, I don't see them coming in... three of them... big guys, don't think they're human... they look like gorillas with the Innsmouth Look, skin kind of blueish-grey... wearing street clothes, though one of them's got that furry Scottish pouch on him... sneak-attack... there's a fight, girl's fighting back, she's got claws... they don't just look like gorillas, they hit like them... one of them goes down, it's bleeding... water?... girl's bleeding bad, she runs for it..."

"Wait..we're fighting ****ing deep ones?" Avery said, arching his brow. "Please, please tell me we're not going to be fighting a calamari special with delusions of grandeur. Because while I'm pretty sure that killing an incarnate entity so distant from human reckoning to be considered a god would do WONDERS for my reputation, last time I checked the stars had not gone ****ing right!"

Avery shook his head, muttering "Ia Ia what the mother****ing ****? Seriously...I mean, I'd like to pretend the world made sense at least for a little while."

There was a second, before Avery looked at Mike "Can you call home, get Maddie's number off your caller ID, assuming it isn't blocked? Don't have Lucas' cell, but he's got hers, so figure can use it to get in touch with him. Otherwise, going to have to go through the bar. Hell, going to try anyway."

And with that, Avery got out his phone, making more comments about fighting sassy seafood plates under his breath as he dialed the number.